# Ever been to a Mom and Pop Italian restaurant that WASN'T good? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056 "2009-09-22T06:46:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/21 "2009-09-22T18:27:00Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Not sure if this qualifies as “mom and pop”, but it certainly was a hole in the wall that billed itself as Italian. It was on the road between Denver and Estes Park, just as you got into the mountains - looking at the map it may have been Lyons. Anyway, the italian sausage sandwich was only slightly better than I would have expected from fast food (bland, mostly,) but the kicker was what they gave all of us as a side dish. Doritos. In a bag! My wife, a native Coloradan, was surprised that I didn’t eat Doritos with my pizza, it was a very standard thing for her family. Maybe it’s a Colorado thing. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/22 "2009-09-22T18:32:14Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I went to one recently that tasted fabulous going down, but gave me such bad diarrhea and gas that I thought I was going into early labor. But that’s how you know it’s good! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/23 "2009-09-22T18:34:40Z")
> [@bup](#): > > _fights back tears of anger_ Sorry to pee in your fagioli. Remember, there is no dispute in matters of taste. Remember Campagnola? Now THAT was good grub. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/24 "2009-09-22T19:49:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > But that’s how you know it’s good! 🆒 I think you’re confusing “Italian food” with “[White Castle](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=310803)”. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/25 "2009-09-22T19:53:58Z")
> [@Mooch](#): > > Sorry to pee in your fagioli. Remember, there is no dispute in matters of taste. Remember Campagnola? Now THAT was good grub. Alright, I’ve got one. Evanston. Hecky’s. It’s not good. Every piece of meat I’ve ever had there has been like leather. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/26 "2009-09-23T12:42:51Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Alright, I’ve got one. Evanston. Hecky’s. It’s not good. Every piece of meat I’ve ever had there has been like leather. “It’s the Sauce!” Because it sure 'aint the meat! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/27 "2009-09-23T13:39:58Z")
Yes. The kind of small Italian place you WANT to be good, but it just wasn’t. Overcooked, mushy pasta all glued together, thin sour spaghetti sauce ladled over, a shaker jar of “Parmesan” (oh, really?) cheese. Pizza? A big circle of dough with a glob of melted mozzarella sitting in the center, and not quite extending to the edges. There were other things on the menu, and they may have been better, but that’s what we had, spaghets and pizza of poor quality. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Falling_Reverend)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/28 "2009-09-23T16:06:21Z")
If you are in Evanston, why would you go anywhere else other than Tony’s Deli for italian food? Plus the bakery next door is really damn good too. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/29 "2009-09-23T16:08:05Z")
Yep, in Seattle. (don’t remember what it was called though) The food was OK I guess, but the servers were the most god-damned rude I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Clare\_de\_Loone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/clare_de_loone/32/3407_2.png) [@Clare\_de\_Loone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clare_de_Loone)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/30 "2009-09-23T18:55:12Z")
> [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](#): > > If you are in Evanston, why would you go anywhere else other than Tony’s Deli for italian food? Plus the bakery next door is really damn good too. Because Tony’s & Conca D’Oro are in Edison Park, dear Reverend. Not close but not far. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/31 "2009-09-24T16:50:38Z")
Tom Cavallo’s in Utica NY. Not very good food but in college we would eat there every monday, since it was all you can eat spaghetti for $1.50, 0.25/ meatball. I just checked their website and apparently there prices have gone up to $3 all you can eat spaghetti . ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/32 "2009-09-24T17:18:00Z")
So many that I don’t go into Mom and Pop Italian places anymore unless someone specifically recommends the place. Mediocre pasta I can make at home for pennies so why should I go out? There are places that get it right: they have selections other than the basic pizza and pasta dishes, maybe some fresh salads and anti-pasta or an espresso machine… but not many. I’d rather go to OG and get decent food than take a chance of having to down a block of overboiled pasta with the Mom’s secret sauce. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/33 "2009-09-24T17:29:52Z")
I’ve had bad veal parmesan in small restaurants. I suspected it had been prepared ahead of time and sat for hours. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/34 "2009-09-24T18:55:25Z")
I’ve been to [Pompilio’s](http://www.pompilios.com/), the restaurant in which they filmed a scene for “Rain Man”, twice. It’s in Northern Kentucky near Cincinnati. Both times, the food sucked majorly. I don’t remember what I had the first time, but the second meal, about a year ago, was linguine in white clam sauce, except the “sauce” was a lot closer to the taste of “canned clams in Campbell’s chicken soup”, to the point that I would be surprised if it wasn’t made that way. Of course, the locals love this stuff. But they love Cincinnati chili, too. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/35 "2009-09-24T23:38:53Z")
I have noticed that there are a lot of bad “italian” places in the south. I think this is because the locals do not know what good italian food is like. I have an Italian-American friend who moved to Virginia 12 years ago. The local places were all bad, so when an italian guy from NJ moved in and opened a restaurant, he was overjoyed. the new restaurant had fantastic pizza, and homemade pasta and sauces-wonderful. Except the locals didn’t like it! (They preferred Pizza Hut)!😕 In the end, the guy started making the terrible “italian” food that the locals liked-it was horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/36 "2009-09-24T23:48:16Z")
If you think the whole “frozen food being microwaved before serving” thing only happens in chain restaurants you are very, very naive. I was a dishwasher in an family-run Italian place, and this is exactly how ALL the baked pasta dishes were made. The desserts were all out of a box too. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/37 "2009-09-25T00:55:25Z")
The whole concept of what’s “good” depends on what you’re “used to.” Half the “mom and pop” Italian restaurants I go to are of the blah water-y all-I-can-taste-is-tomato variety. Why wouldn’t I prefer Olive Garden? Just because it’s “non-chain” does not automatically = “better.” There are some things OG does great, there are some things M&Ps do great, there are some things I do best at home. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/38 "2009-09-25T15:15:37Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have an Italian-American friend who moved to Virginia 12 years ago. The local places were all bad, so when an italian guy from NJ moved in and opened a restaurant, he was overjoyed. the new restaurant had fantastic pizza, and homemade pasta and sauces-wonderful. Except the locals didn’t like it! (They preferred Pizza Hut)!😕 > In the end, the guy started making the terrible “italian” food that the locals liked-it was horrible. Same thing in a small town near me. An Italian-American ex-pat from a predominantly Italian suburb of Buffalo opened up an Italian restaurant, and served authentic Buffalo-style pizza and Italian food. (FWIW, in the Buffalo area there are very few chain pizzerias; they can’t compete against the local variety of pizza residents think is the nation’s best.) The place struggled for business. He stopped serving Buffalo-style pizza and started serving a more generic Midwestern-style pizza. and watered down the sauces for the rest of the food. The locals liked it, and business improved. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056/39 "2009-09-25T15:16:34Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have noticed that there are a lot of bad “italian” places in the south. I think this is because the locals do not know what good italian food is like. I have an Italian-American friend who moved to Virginia 12 years ago. The local places were all bad, so when an italian guy from NJ moved in and opened a restaurant, he was overjoyed. the new restaurant had fantastic pizza, and homemade pasta and sauces-wonderful. Except the locals didn’t like it! (They preferred Pizza Hut)!😕 > In the end, the guy started making the terrible “italian” food that the locals liked-it was horrible. That reminds me of the movie **Big Night**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-to-a-mom-and-pop-italian-restaurant-that-wasnt-good/511056.md?page=1)